With hot ratings (8.4 million tuned in for the premiere) and an even hotter cast (ladies love Ross Lynch), Disney Channel’s Teen Beach Movieis destined to spawn a sequel — if not a full-fledged High School Musical-style franchise. Though the network has not made any formal announcement about pursuing a follow-up movie, HollywoodLife.com spoke with director Jeffrey Hornadayfor his thoughts on what Teen Beach Movie 2 could look like, including who could be the next big star!

“It really comes down to story,” Jeffrey told us July 27 at the Dizzy Feet Foundation’s “Celebration of Dance” Gala in Los Angeles. “If they feel like they have a story that’s worth telling, they’ll put all their energy and support behind it. I like that they don’t go somewhere with things when they don’t know what to do; once they zero in on something organic, like the last one was, I’m sure they’re going to jump in hard!”

More Rascal In ‘Teen Beach Movie 2’?

As for which secondary character Jeffrey would hypothetically like to bring front-and-center in the sequel? He told us it’s too soon to say; sometimes, the magic just happens during filming.

“Even on the set [of the first movie] we were kind of discovering characters as they were going,” he explained. “Like the character Kent Boyd played, Rascal. He was a fun, beachy kid that wasn’t really scripted — but as we found things, he evolved and he has become one of the favorites online. That discovery process was really fun! In pre-production, when we find the actors, we can see what we can find.”

More Rascal? Sounds good to us!

Ross Lynch Would ‘Definitely’ Do A Sequel

It’s a good thing Jeffrey’s wheels are already turning, because during a recent interview with Access Hollywood, Ross Lynch said he’s totally game to reprise his Teen Beach Movie role for a sequel:

I think, if this does well, they’ll definitely want to do a sequel because Disney’s just really good at doing that. I had so much fun! If they take us back to Puerto Rico, that’s just enough right there. That’s enough. The script doesn’t even need to be good — which I’m sure it will be.